In his dream, he is harvesting lotuses from the lake.
The seeds he planted have flourished beyond all expectation. Flowers cover the entire shoreline; between them, a tiny squid darts to and fro, and he laughs as he chases after it, trousers and robes hiked high to keep them clear of the water. The squid likes to steal the lotus blossoms sometimes. He does not mind. They've even made a game of it: the little creature will try to pluck a flower without Wei Wuxian noticing, and if he catches it, it must give it back.
As he splashes through the knee-high water, his feet tangle on something and send him pitching forward with a yelp. The squid burbles with laughter as it swims away. Wei Wuxian is still laughing, too, as he hefts himself upright, shoving his soaking-wet hair from his eyes.
The laughter dies on his tongue when he sees what he's tripped over.
"Shijie," he whispers, horrified. "Shijie, no -- "
She is tangled in the roots of the lotuses, eyes wide and unseeing. Blood drifts from her mouth in a long thin plume. How long has she been trapped down there? He has seen drowned bodies before, bloated by water -- she is too pale, her fine features swollen, but no, she cannot be dead, no --
Frantically, he tears at the plants to free her. For every one he uproots, another grows fast, seizing his hands, trying to drag him down.
("Shijie," he whispers in his sleep, as he trembles beneath Lan Zhan's hand.)
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The seeds he planted have flourished beyond all expectation. Flowers cover the entire shoreline; between them, a tiny squid darts to and fro, and he laughs as he chases after it, trousers and robes hiked high to keep them clear of the water. The squid likes to steal the lotus blossoms sometimes. He does not mind. They've even made a game of it: the little creature will try to pluck a flower without Wei Wuxian noticing, and if he catches it, it must give it back.
As he splashes through the knee-high water, his feet tangle on something and send him pitching forward with a yelp. The squid burbles with laughter as it swims away. Wei Wuxian is still laughing, too, as he hefts himself upright, shoving his soaking-wet hair from his eyes.
The laughter dies on his tongue when he sees what he's tripped over.
"Shijie," he whispers, horrified. "Shijie, no -- "
She is tangled in the roots of the lotuses, eyes wide and unseeing. Blood drifts from her mouth in a long thin plume. How long has she been trapped down there? He has seen drowned bodies before, bloated by water -- she is too pale, her fine features swollen, but no, she cannot be dead, no --
Frantically, he tears at the plants to free her. For every one he uproots, another grows fast, seizing his hands, trying to drag him down.
("Shijie," he whispers in his sleep, as he trembles beneath Lan Zhan's hand.)